


Don't Bring War to a Soldier

by Pixelatrix



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: AU-ish., Angst, Drabble, Drama, Multi, Post-Reaper War, Romance, Sex (eventually), Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-13
Updated: 2016-01-18
Packaged: 2018-04-09 05:04:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4334918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixelatrix/pseuds/Pixelatrix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post Reaper War the Alliance turns on Major Shepard, using her as a scapegoat to appease those within the Alliance who feel more should've been done to prevent the Reaper War and the <br/>terrorist attacks from Cerberus.  Admiral Hackett is unable to prevent her arrest, leaving Ede Shepard to fight her own battles, once again.</p><p>This started as a short Zaeed/Hackett/Shepard drabble.  Unrelated to any of my other stories.  A silly little thing that kept floating around my head that I've decided to combine with an idea that came to me on Tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Bioware owns all sadly.
> 
> Kudos, Subscriptions and Bookmarks are a drug that I love to receive. Comments are chocolate, they make everything better. I am thankful for all of them.
> 
> Shout out to my spectacular betas: CelticGrace & MissMeggo929
> 
> Hope you enjoy

_2186_

Commander Ede Killian Shepard had never been _out-of-her-league_ with a man in her life.  She’d dated officers both senior and junior along with a few civilians and even an assassin who worked on a black op team.  She’d been the pursuer and at times the pursued in relationships.  She’d had brilliant fun in all of them, not wasting time with regrets.

But Ede could say for absolute certainty that he’d never sat between and Admiral and his bounty hunter boyfriend who were both attempting to get into her pants.  Their eyes seemed to hold a deep knowledge of her darkest secrets.  It unnerved her which only served to annoy the shit out of her.  She didn’t enjoy the feeling _at all_.

“Is this your attempt at seduction? Ede pinned Admiral Steven Hackett with a glare while catching one of Zaeed’s wandering fingers before it reach the inside of her thigh.  She bent it back to the point of pain. “Play games with someone who has time for them.”

“Why say yes to the date…”

“Say no to an expensive dinner with two gorgeous men?” Ede might not have time for bullshit, but she wasn’t stupid.  She decided it was time to mess with the men a little so turned her attention to Hackett again. “Does my dad—your best mate from the first contact war—know you’re trying to talk his only daughter into your bed?”

“ _Ede.”_

Her mother, Admiral Hannah Shepard, had been a casualty of the first contact war.  Her father Killan, also an admiral, had decided to retire shortly after to take care of his four-year-old daughter.  He’d been talked into more of a semi-retirement.  They’d moved to Earth, near one of the larger Alliance bases, to allow him to work in an advisory capacity.  Ede had grown up surrounded by marines.

She’d inherited her mother’s petite frame though her hours in the muscled her out more than her mother had been.   Her eyes and hair were all her father.  They had the exact same thick, dark brown hair and piercing hazel eyes.   Years spent idolizing him had also left her with similar mannerisms to his.  They had the same dark sense of humor as well.

“Ede?” Hackett prompted after a few minutes, drawing her out of her thoughts. “Let’s not do anything rash.”

“Well, well, well.  Have I found something Admiral Hackett is intimated by?” Ede finally cracked a smile.  “Didn’t my dad toss you in the brig once?”

“I have no idea what you’re referring to.” He smacked Zaeed on the arm when he laughed. “Traitor. It was your fault.”

“What do you want from me?” Ede felt the need to cut through the bullshit with the batarians out for her blood and the reapers on the edge of attack, life was just too short.  “Well?”

“A date.”  Hackett covered Zaeed’s mouth and answered for both of them.

“You have it.”

“We want a second bloody date, and a third, and a goddamn fourth.” Zaeed yanked the hand from his mouth looking irate.

“And a fifth one?” She tried not to grin, but her lips twitched up into one anyway. “Why would you want someone like me whose life expectancy is likely pretty damn short if the reapers attack?”

“What happened to thinking positively?”

Ede raised an eyebrow at the admiral. “Do you see me surviving the war?”

“I’ll bet you giving us a chance at a real relationship that the three of us survive the war.” Hackett leaned across the table to hold his hand out to her. “Well?  Afraid of a little bet?”

“This is beyond macabre.” She shook his hand anyway, rolling her eyes when he kissed it. “And if you lose?”

“If you don’t survive the war, or Zaeed doesn’t, I will have already lost.” Hackett seemed oblivious to the glare Zaeed was sending to him.

“You’re both completely insane.” Ede didn’t think life after the war would be so bad with the two men—if she survived.

Seven months later, Hackett pulled Ede out from the rubble of the Crucible.  The man standing beside him gave her a smug grin which she ignored.  She stayed on the ground unable to get to her feet.

“So how about the second goddamn date?”

“Perhaps you could make sure I’m not bleeding internally first?” Ede groaned when they lifted her up to carry her away from the remnants of the control room.  “The next time I bet my life, remind me to be more specific about the details if I lose.”

“You still lost.”

“I just saved your ass, everyone’s asses really.  How about you gloat later?” Ede punched weekly at Zaeed’s arm.   She glared at him when he started to open his mouth again. “Yes, yes.  We’re all going on a second date—if I don’t bleed to death in the hallway while you demonstrate your inability to be a gracious winner.”

He kissed her on the lips and winked at her. “The doc’ll patch you right up.”

“Better be a damn amazing second date.” Ede batted Hackett away when he came in for his own kiss. “Beyond amazing.”

“It’ll be everything we ever hoped for.”

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You are not imagining things. I did change the name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bioware owns all sadly.
> 
> Kudos, Subscriptions and Bookmarks are a drug that I love to receive. Comments are chocolate, they make everything better. I am thankful for all of them.
> 
> Shout out to my spectacular betas: CelticGrace & MissMeggo929
> 
> Hope you enjoy

_From: Steven_

_To: Ede_

_Subj:  Orders._

_I’m attaching a set of orders that made their way across my desk this morning.  I’ve been fighting this for months now and have finally been over-ruled._

_Since the end of the war, as you know, there’s been a group within the admiralty who are trying to find someone to blame for our lack of preparedness.  They are unhappy with the level of destruction on Earth.  They’re unhappy with how humanity has become so inter-twined with the council and council species._

_They blame Cerberus._

_And as a result, I believe they’re going to attempt to use you as an example._

_Stay close to your father._

_Don’t sign anything._

_Don’t give a statement._

_Steven_

* * *

 

“Ede?”

“ _Ede?”_

She didn’t bother looking up at her father to respond.  He deftly caught the datapad that she flung over her shoulder in his general direction. “Do they still hang traitors?”

Her dad took a seat beside her on the porch steps.  “You think I’m going to let those bastards do this to you again?  It was bad enough with the batarians.  Do you really believe I’m going to let them turn you into a scapegoat because they’re chicken shits who can’t take a crap without being told how?”

“Lovely imagery.”

“What’s the great Admiral Hackett have to say about it?”

“ _Dad.”_

“I’m not letting him screw you in more than one way.”

“Letting him?” Ede raised an eyebrow at her father. “Really? _Letting_ him?”

“Allow me the illusion.”

He honestly hadn’t reacted much to the knowledge that his only daughter was involved in a casual relationship with two older men—one who just happened to be his best friend.  Ede fully expected something more from him on the subject.  She had a feeling he was waiting to see if it would evolve into more than a simple fling.

She pushed herself off the step and brushed the dirt from the back of her jeans. “They’ll be here tomorrow.”

“Ede.” He caught her hand in his. “Do not answer any questions.”

“What?”

“I’m sending a message to Eli.”

“No, no way, absolutely not.” Ede cringed at the very idea of asking her ex-fiancé for help.  They’d made better friends than lovers, but Eli would tease her mercilessly for needing him.

“You need a lawyer, a good one and Eli’s the best.” Her dad held her hand tightly. “I’m messaging him.”

Elias ‘Eli’ Anderson had been one of her closest friends growing up.  They’d attended pre-school together and been inseparable up until he went to law school.   He’d had no interest in the military until Ede had managed to draw the attention of _everyone_ with the catastrophe that was Torfan. 

As a young attorney, Eli had used that event to become an advocate for Alliance officers.  He’d saved several innocent marines for long stints in the brig.  He was now the proud lead attorney for one of the largest, most well-respect law firms on Earth.

They’d been engaged when they were nineteen.

_Terrible idea._

Two years after their engagement, Ede and Eli had realized rather quickly marriage would be a disaster. They were _much_ better friends than lovers.  They’d stayed close.

Aside from not wanting him to tease her, Ede was hesitant to bring Eli in for other reasons.  He could be even more protective over her than her father.  He had a stubborn streak which meant he wouldn’t let injustice of any sort go, particularly if it involved her.

“Is it a fort kind of evening?”

Ede shook her head to clear her thoughts then smiled at her dad. “We haven’t built a tent in my room in ages.  I think I’ve out grown them.”

It had been a tradition after her mother died.  If Ede became sad or upset, her dad would turn her bedroom into a giant tent with fairy lights around the top of the sheets.  He always told her that the stars were her mother looking down on her.  She’d fallen in love with space because of it.

“It’s going to be fine.” He got to his feet and pulled her into a hug. “I’ll make it so.”

“Just like that?”

“Never underestimate a Shepard.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This story had potential. But Ede stopped talking to me and the thing just evaporated out from under me. I've struggled for months and months to get to a final chapter. This is the best I could do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone enjoys it.
> 
> Thanks for all the kudos, subscriptions and comments.
> 
> Bioware Owns All, sadly.
> 
> Beta: CelticGrace & MissMeggo929

The arrest of the famed Commander Shepard for treason sent shockwaves thought not only the Alliance and humanity, their allies were outraged as well.  Batarians aside, the quarians, krogans and turians in particular seemed completely appalled by the audacity of the admiralty.  The asari and salarians were content to stay out of human affairs for the moment.

As for the Alliance itself, those under the pay grade of Admiral supported Shepard.  The politicians and upper brass were the ones out for her blood.  It had created a turmoil which threatened all of the progress made since the end of the war.

It had been a week since her arrest but the media circus hadn’t quieted down at all.  Ede actually felt grateful that she’d fostered a somewhat decent relationship with several journalists during the war.  They’d taken on her fight with a fierce determination.   It had been amusing to watch the admiralty squirm at some of the skeleton being pulled out of their closets.

“They can’t treat you like this.” Eli sneered at the military guards flanking Ede as they sat across from each other at a table in a small windowless room.  “It’s a disgrace to the memory of all the marines who fought under your command during the war.  They should be ashamed of themselves.”

Ede rolled her eyes at him. “Stop posturing for the idiots listening in to our conversation.  Get to the point of why you dragged me from my lovely cell.”

“You inherited your dad’s prickly personality.” Her ex-fiancé turned lawyer batted off her mood like an insignificant fly. “We only have a few minutes before the committee reconvenes to begin questioning you.”

“Why bother?” Ede knew what their eventual decision would be.  She felt like she’d been fighting for years only now they’d taken away her guns. “Eli.  I don’t think I can do this.”

He disregarded the warning from one of the MPs and moved around the table to crouch beside her chair.  He took her hand in both of his, offering warmth and comfort to her.  “You have an army of supporters behind you.  You’ll have visitors soon, so get it together, marine.”

Ede stuck her tongue out at him while surreptitiously wiping tears from her eyes. “What visitors?”

“The conjugal kind.” Eli winked at her.

“You ass.” Ede swatted him on the arm as best as she could with handcuffed wrists.   She ended up simply swinging both of her hands at him. “The jailers might not appreciate front row seats.”

She found herself sitting across from Zaeed and Steven a few minutes later.  Hackett had glared at the armed guards until they both ducked out of the room like he’d set their pants on fire. 

“How have you been?” Hackett dragged his chair around so he was seated closer to her.   Zaeed moved to her other side. “They don’t have a leg to stand on.”

“Apparently they do.” 

They both took one of her hands, ignoring the cuffs still linking her wrists together.   Hackett made it clear they intended to stand in her corner.  She wondered how much effort everyone had gone to in order to combat the idiots trying to lock her up for life.

The meeting with the committee turned out to be as pointless as the first time Ede had been brought before a similar group.  She felt her stress life when Eli began to talk circles around them.  He evaded questions before she even started to formulate answers.  

With each countered argument, Eli forced one pillar after another of their case to collapse out from underneath them.  Ede had gone into it expecting to get jail time.  Now she was almost certain to be walking out a free woman.

And walk out a free woman was exactly what she did.

Into a future with Hackett and Massani beside her.

**Author's Note:**

> Ede: http://pixelatrix.tumblr.com/post/119859161101/ede-killian-shepard
> 
> Eli: http://pixelatrix.tumblr.com/post/124855652561
> 
> Killian Shepard: http://pixelatrix.tumblr.com/post/124834757526


End file.
